Fic: His Shadow
His Shadow
By Kelli Dalton
Summary: Post-movie. Roxanne brings up Megamind's past and finds out that he's hiding a dark side.
Pairings: Megamind/Roxanne
Warnings: Aliens (duh), violence, swearing
Rating: R
Beta: inuloveskago
Just to make this clear, this is NOT how Dissociative Identity Disorder, or Multiple Personality Disorder, really works. This is merely my attempt to put Vice in Megamind's head, so please don't think I'm playing off of that stereotype because I'm not. Also, while Megamind's other half was designed to act like Vice, he is not actually Vice since the circumstances are different and I can't quite write him like megabluelove does. And, speaking of her, I had her permission to write this.
Roxanne and Megamind had been properly dating for a few weeks, though he'd still had to use the disguise generator on occasion to keep from attracting too much attention. His usual projection was a humanized version of himself as opposed to being Bernard. She thought it a little odd to see him with a small head and peach colored skin, but it was better than having to deal with fans and haters every time they went out.
They were sitting in a bar and grill owned by one of the ex-villain's uncles who had gone straight, so he wasn't wearing a disguise. She had a half-eaten plate of hot wings in front of her and Megamind had only a couple bites of steak left on his.
"So they seriously told a little kid that?" she asked.
He nodded in response.
"Eventually I figured out the truth, but how else would you convince a child the importance of using soap on a rope? I never did quite get over my fear of snakes, though," admitted the hero.
"Try throwing one at him," Antony, the owner, suggested as he refilled their drinks. "He screams like a girl."
"I do not!"
"I've heard it, though it usually involves one of his inventions," said Roxanne.
Megamind pouted.
"When you're ready for dessert just wave me over, Blue."
The black man pinched his 'nephew's' cheek for good measure before drifting to another occupied table.
"Odd parenting aside, I'd say you turned out pretty well for someone who spent most of their childhood surrounded by criminals."
"Quite a few of them had children of their own, so I was a replacement for the ones they couldn't be with," Megamind said.
"They spoiled you."
"A bit."
The conversation was going so well and they were learning so much about one another. It was nice to be able to talk to him like that without the lie of Bernard between them.
"So what about when you left the prison for a while?" she inquired.
"When I was in shool or when I was between evil schemes?"
"No, there was that newspaper article about sending you to a foster home."
On a whim, she had decided to make a scrapbook of all the times her boyfriend had made the headlines. After he had set off the paint bomb in his classroom there had been a big fiasco over the whole thing. The Scotts had gotten into trouble over their son endangering the other children and protestors had demanded that the blue child be found a more suitable home. The newspaper had featured a picture of a young Blue standing between a smiling couple. It would be more than a year later that he'd make headlines again for flooding the roof of the prison.
"Uh, it didn't work out," he stated, nervously glancing at his watch. "Oh, look at the time. I must be going. Tell Uncle Antony to put this on my tab." He quickly slid out of the booth.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
"I-I'll probably talk to you later. Sorry."
He hurried off, leaving her utterly confused. What had she said that could have made him walk out on her?
* * *
"It was so weird. He's never like that," Roxanne told Wayne.
She was sitting on the couch with him in the Fortress of Solitude. If anybody could explain what went wrong, it would be him. She had considered asking Minion but wasn't sure he'd answer her if it was something that upset Megamind that much.
"It's probably nothing," replied Music Man.
He was lying through his teeth and doing a poor job of it.
"Okay. Then maybe you can tell me why things didn't work out with his foster family."
"Well... It's not really my story to tell, but it's better than asking him." He rubbed nervously at his chest before continuing. "The people who were fostering him were really nice; they had a kid of their own, plus a couple other fosters. He had expected the other children to do the same things his schoolmates had done and purposely left the fish with the prison's warden for safekeeping; I guess he had assumed he wouldn't be there long. Surprisingly, the children were tolerant of him. Having been given up or taken away form their own parents, the foster kids understood him to an extent."
He took a drink of his soda, seeming to want to put off the next part.
"So, that's good isn't it?" she asked.
Wayne sighed. "The family was fine; the problem was that they were normal people. See, when we landed here, Megamind and I both landed in really secure places. Tall fences, cameras, guard dogs. And his foster family didn't have any of that, so there was almost nothing to keep wayward scientists from kidnapping him."
She inhaled sharply, not expecting that. It certainly explained why the prison was 'home' to Megamind. Not only had he grown up there, but it had to be the safest place he knew.
"That's horrible!"
"You're right. Apparently, they started out with mundane tests. Scans, x-rays, IQ exams, and the like. Then they moved on to blood tests and physical exams. From there it went down hill into more invasive procedures. I was spared most of the details."
He was back to rubbing his chest.
"How could they do that? To a child no less!" demanded Roxanne.
She desperately wanted to throw something, but it wasn't Music Man's fault, so she couldn't take her anger out on his stuff.
"During one of the tests, one where they were trying to find the limits of his strength, he broke the machine and... snapped. Supposedly, he didn't kill anyone, but not sure how much restraint he actually had at that point. He set the labs to self-destruct and, through the intercom, told everyone to get out before the place blew. After that, he walked home. And the government swept everything under a rug," he finished.
She sat stunned for a moment before the reporter in her kicked in.
"How do you know all of this?"
"He told me a few years later."
Wayne's fingers twitched as though he wanted to rub his chest again. She wanted to ask him about it, but she was more concerned with her boyfriend's past.
"But that would've been about when you two started fighting."
"Exactly. At that point we didn't exchange witty banter, we just insulted one another. I had brought up how he had failed to find a real family and he dropped his entire plan to storm off. I had let him leave because I realized I had gone too far. He came to my parent's house that night to... discuss the issue. Even now, I wish I had never opened my mouth."
He shuddered and had a haunted look on his face.
"What happened?"
"You're going to think I'm crazy, Roxie, but Megamind has a split personality. And it can be down right mean."
Crazy just about summed it up. She wanted to believe her long-time friend, but her boyfriend was still too predictable for something so off the wall.
"Um, right."
"I'm being serious. His eyes even turn this pale green color when he's this other person."
"Okay, let's say Megamind gets all weird. How come I've never seen it?" questioned Roxanne. "He's kidnapped me for years and has always been his eccentric self."
"You HAVE seen his other half. It was right before he quit the Doom Syndicate. Destruction Worker had kidnapped you and HE came to your rescue. Do you remember why he said he did it?"
"Yes. He said it was because I was his hostage only. But I know it was because he had a crush on me and was worried that Destruction Worker would actually hurt me."
"In part, but in his mind you really are his. A possession... just like me."
"What do you mean?"
There was a soft knock on the metal door, followed by Megamind walking in.
Paranoid because of the conversation, she looked carefully at his face. His eyes were their normal vivid green and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
"I was hoping to find you here, Roxanne," said the blue man. "When you didn't answer your phone I figured this was the only place where you couldn't get signal. I want to... apologize for running out on you last night. You just brought up some bad memories."
Next to her, Music Man was tense, his eyes narrowed at the other man.
"It's okay, Wayne was explaining what happened. I understand."
"You don't understand, but, then, who would?" He seemed sad, self-deprecating almost. "Still, the night had been going so damn well until that point. We should do it again soon. Of course, avoiding certain topics."
She stiffened. Megamind, like Metro Man, NEVER swore. What Wayne had been saying suddenly had so much more merit.
"He's pretending to be Megamind and using the watch to hide his eyes," the retired hero stated.
"Well, shit. I almost had her convinced, too." He pouted. "Oh, well. It's been a while hasn't it, Wayne?"
"Not long enough, Itzal."
The blue man shrugged and turned off his disguise generator, revealing ice green eyes and clothes that went against the ex-villain's style. The shirt was a loose, red short-sleeve, the pants, while black were loose-fitting as well, and he had on red chucks instead of boots. Where had he been hiding such a normal outfit? On the rare occasions she had convinced Megamind to wear normal clothes they closely resembled his costume, being mostly black and tight fitting.
"You should really do something about that beard. You look less like the rock star you aren't and more like a fucking hobo. The hair's fine, though."
Just the other day she'd discussed Music Man's appearance with Megamind and to hear his opinion twisted like that made the truth of the situation sink in.
Itzal sauntered over and flipped the larger man's bangs.
"In fact, it's kinda hot," said Itzal.
"What do you want?" Music Man demanded.
The question was bold, but his body language clearly said that he wanted to bolt. Why in the world would he be afraid of anyone? Even if his old nemesis had gone nuts, he was still untouchable.
"Oh, don't be so defensive." The blue man patted Wayne on the cheek. "I'm only interested in Roxanne at the moment."
Instantly, the fear was gone and the retired hero looked like he wanted to punch Itzal. She was thoroughly confused and a tad frightened by their interactions.
"Don't touch her."
"Are you worried I'm going to mark our girlfriend? I've outgrown that."
He poked Music Man in the chest, exactly where the man had been rubbing earlier.
"What are you to talking about?" questioned Roxanne.
Though she didn't want to draw their attentions to her, she had to ask anyway.
An evil grin spread across Itzal's face. "Show her, Wayne."
The larger man seemed to debate with himself for a minute, then sighed and pulled his t-shirt off. He averted his eyes as she stared at the scarring across his right pectoral.
"You see, his invulnerability only works when he perceives a threat. Like when you and Megamind found 'Music Man'." He made air quotes with his fingers. "His skin didn't depress when you threw shit at him, yet, not half an hour before, Megamind was playing with his face." He traced the pale design with his finger, following each curve of the stylized 'M'. "The night I... introduced myself, I snuck into Wayne’s room and used my newly created knock-out spray on him while he was still sleeping. By the time he started to come to I was almost done. When he could move again, he back-handed me hard enough that I ended up on the lawn."
Itzal flopped down on the couch between them, relaxing against the backing. She scooted away so that her leg wasn’t touching the stranger who looked like her boyfriend.
"But that didn't stop me. The next night I went back and poisoned him. Obviously I didn't give him enough to kill him, but enough to prove that I COULD. And while he was incapacitated, I explained to him exactly who he was dealing with. Up until that point he thought we were full of shit. That we were stupidly beating our giant blue head against a fucking wall and weren't intelligent enough to do anything to him. He started to respect Megamind's fair play after that. Though, occasionally, I make similar visits to remind him of his place."
He had a cat-who-ate-the-canary sort of smile as he crossed his arms behind his head.
"You have no right to do things like that! Megamind would never- " she started, jumping up and pointing angrily at him.
"Do something like that?" interrupted the blue man. "Of course he wouldn't. And when Wayne tracked him down a couple days later to confront him about it he cried like a bitch and tried to apologize. Megamind won't do a lot of things he'd like to, so I do them for him. Including taking care of our possessions."
"I don't belong to anyone, least of all you! I am dating Blue. Not some screwed up look-alike!"
Itzal just grinned at her as he stood and circled around her.
"If you'd like, I can prove that you are ours."
Music Man looked ready to intervene at any second, but relaxed the instant the blue man staggered. Itzal's eyes flashed a darker green as he caught his balance.
"Oh, piss. I crossed a line with that one," he said, pressing the heel of his hand to his brow. "But don't worry, Roxanne, you'll be seeing me around; you've given him some wonderful fucking nightmares." He looked over at Wayne. "You'd better grab him this time. These floors are marble."
And with that, his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed as though his strings had been cut. Music Man was there in a flash and caught him before he could hit the floor.
"Okay, what the hell was that all about?" demanded Roxanne.
Admittedly, she rarely swore, but this merited a few colorful phrases.
"Like Itzal said, he crossed a line. Whatever he'd been threatening to do to you had to have upset Megamind enough to have him forced back. They typically black out when they fight over his body like that," her friend said as he lay Megamind on the couch.
"Does this happen often?"
"What, Itzal showing up? No, thankfully. It's been several years since he last came out." Wayne put his shirt back on. "I thought he was finally gone."
"And what about seeing him around? You said Megamind forced him back."
He scratched his neck awkwardly.
"As long as Megamind is having nightmares about the labs or the things Itzal has done we will have to be on guard for him. And when he's in control he will try to act on Megamind's wants, so it does make sense that he's focused on you at the moment."
Surely he didn't mean that...
"He wouldn't!"
Music Man shook his head.
"No, Megamind would never let him. He grew up around the results of forceful men, so neither of them would ever do that."
He walked over to the only phone in his entire hideout and held up a finger to her, before dialing a number.
"Hello. Put me through to the Warden," he said. "Warden Trueman? It's Wayne... Yes, I'm aware he's been charged with Metro Man's murder, but this is more important that that... Yes, he's awake. Roxie asked about the foster home... I didn't think to warn her and obviously you didn't either... Her... Yeah, I don't think putting him in the same building with him is a good idea. In fact you might want to double the guard on him just in case Itzal gets the idea to go after him... I'll watch him... I'll think about it... Have a nice afternoon."
She raised an eyebrow at him as he hung up the phone.
"Normally, I'd drag him back to prison, but they put that Tighten guy in his cell and none of the other cells can hold him for more than a couple hours. Plus Itzal might take the chance to get some revenge on Tighten."
"For attacking Megamind."
"And for trying to hurt you."
Sure, Hal was a jerk and tried to kill her, but she didn't think he deserved whatever Itzal might have in store for him.
"Since we can't put him in prison; I'll just have to keep an eye on him," stated the ex-hero.
"But you're afraid of him."
Music Man looked away.
"To an extent, but I'm not the center of his attention this time. It won't be so bad."
She didn't quite believe him, but she didn't have a better plan.
"Okay... I'm going home. I need some time to think about all this."
"Roxie, he will approach you again and he may try to act like Megamind again. Obviously Itzal cusses, but he's got other tells. He doesn't mispronounce any words except Metro City, he doesn't care about personal space, and he gets agitated easily," warned Wayne.
She thanked him and walked away, mulling over everything. Blue was a really good guy and he had changed so much for her, but his split personality was proving to be a bit much. It might even be a deal breaker.
I wrote this eons ago, before my muse decided to tell me to bugger off and finally decided to brush the dust off of it and post it to the comm. Because of my muse still not working properly, I'm not sure how well my old note on this applies: There will be at least one more chapter to this. In the next chapter you get to find out a little more about what the scientist did to Megz, how Metz knows that Itzal wouldn't force himself on someone, and whether or not Rox dumps Megz. And hopefully there will be a little more action and a bit less talking.
By Kelli Dalton
Summary: Post-movie. Roxanne brings up Megamind's past and finds out that he's hiding a dark side.
Pairings: Megamind/Roxanne
Warnings: Aliens (duh), violence, swearing
Rating: R
Beta: inuloveskago
Just to make this clear, this is NOT how Dissociative Identity Disorder, or Multiple Personality Disorder, really works. This is merely my attempt to put Vice in Megamind's head, so please don't think I'm playing off of that stereotype because I'm not. Also, while Megamind's other half was designed to act like Vice, he is not actually Vice since the circumstances are different and I can't quite write him like megabluelove does. And, speaking of her, I had her permission to write this.
Roxanne and Megamind had been properly dating for a few weeks, though he'd still had to use the disguise generator on occasion to keep from attracting too much attention. His usual projection was a humanized version of himself as opposed to being Bernard. She thought it a little odd to see him with a small head and peach colored skin, but it was better than having to deal with fans and haters every time they went out.
They were sitting in a bar and grill owned by one of the ex-villain's uncles who had gone straight, so he wasn't wearing a disguise. She had a half-eaten plate of hot wings in front of her and Megamind had only a couple bites of steak left on his.
"So they seriously told a little kid that?" she asked.
He nodded in response.
"Eventually I figured out the truth, but how else would you convince a child the importance of using soap on a rope? I never did quite get over my fear of snakes, though," admitted the hero.
"Try throwing one at him," Antony, the owner, suggested as he refilled their drinks. "He screams like a girl."
"I do not!"
"I've heard it, though it usually involves one of his inventions," said Roxanne.
Megamind pouted.
"When you're ready for dessert just wave me over, Blue."
The black man pinched his 'nephew's' cheek for good measure before drifting to another occupied table.
"Odd parenting aside, I'd say you turned out pretty well for someone who spent most of their childhood surrounded by criminals."
"Quite a few of them had children of their own, so I was a replacement for the ones they couldn't be with," Megamind said.
"They spoiled you."
"A bit."
The conversation was going so well and they were learning so much about one another. It was nice to be able to talk to him like that without the lie of Bernard between them.
"So what about when you left the prison for a while?" she inquired.
"When I was in shool or when I was between evil schemes?"
"No, there was that newspaper article about sending you to a foster home."
On a whim, she had decided to make a scrapbook of all the times her boyfriend had made the headlines. After he had set off the paint bomb in his classroom there had been a big fiasco over the whole thing. The Scotts had gotten into trouble over their son endangering the other children and protestors had demanded that the blue child be found a more suitable home. The newspaper had featured a picture of a young Blue standing between a smiling couple. It would be more than a year later that he'd make headlines again for flooding the roof of the prison.
"Uh, it didn't work out," he stated, nervously glancing at his watch. "Oh, look at the time. I must be going. Tell Uncle Antony to put this on my tab." He quickly slid out of the booth.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
"I-I'll probably talk to you later. Sorry."
He hurried off, leaving her utterly confused. What had she said that could have made him walk out on her?
* * *
"It was so weird. He's never like that," Roxanne told Wayne.
She was sitting on the couch with him in the Fortress of Solitude. If anybody could explain what went wrong, it would be him. She had considered asking Minion but wasn't sure he'd answer her if it was something that upset Megamind that much.
"It's probably nothing," replied Music Man.
He was lying through his teeth and doing a poor job of it.
"Okay. Then maybe you can tell me why things didn't work out with his foster family."
"Well... It's not really my story to tell, but it's better than asking him." He rubbed nervously at his chest before continuing. "The people who were fostering him were really nice; they had a kid of their own, plus a couple other fosters. He had expected the other children to do the same things his schoolmates had done and purposely left the fish with the prison's warden for safekeeping; I guess he had assumed he wouldn't be there long. Surprisingly, the children were tolerant of him. Having been given up or taken away form their own parents, the foster kids understood him to an extent."
He took a drink of his soda, seeming to want to put off the next part.
"So, that's good isn't it?" she asked.
Wayne sighed. "The family was fine; the problem was that they were normal people. See, when we landed here, Megamind and I both landed in really secure places. Tall fences, cameras, guard dogs. And his foster family didn't have any of that, so there was almost nothing to keep wayward scientists from kidnapping him."
She inhaled sharply, not expecting that. It certainly explained why the prison was 'home' to Megamind. Not only had he grown up there, but it had to be the safest place he knew.
"That's horrible!"
"You're right. Apparently, they started out with mundane tests. Scans, x-rays, IQ exams, and the like. Then they moved on to blood tests and physical exams. From there it went down hill into more invasive procedures. I was spared most of the details."
He was back to rubbing his chest.
"How could they do that? To a child no less!" demanded Roxanne.
She desperately wanted to throw something, but it wasn't Music Man's fault, so she couldn't take her anger out on his stuff.
"During one of the tests, one where they were trying to find the limits of his strength, he broke the machine and... snapped. Supposedly, he didn't kill anyone, but not sure how much restraint he actually had at that point. He set the labs to self-destruct and, through the intercom, told everyone to get out before the place blew. After that, he walked home. And the government swept everything under a rug," he finished.
She sat stunned for a moment before the reporter in her kicked in.
"How do you know all of this?"
"He told me a few years later."
Wayne's fingers twitched as though he wanted to rub his chest again. She wanted to ask him about it, but she was more concerned with her boyfriend's past.
"But that would've been about when you two started fighting."
"Exactly. At that point we didn't exchange witty banter, we just insulted one another. I had brought up how he had failed to find a real family and he dropped his entire plan to storm off. I had let him leave because I realized I had gone too far. He came to my parent's house that night to... discuss the issue. Even now, I wish I had never opened my mouth."
He shuddered and had a haunted look on his face.
"What happened?"
"You're going to think I'm crazy, Roxie, but Megamind has a split personality. And it can be down right mean."
Crazy just about summed it up. She wanted to believe her long-time friend, but her boyfriend was still too predictable for something so off the wall.
"Um, right."
"I'm being serious. His eyes even turn this pale green color when he's this other person."
"Okay, let's say Megamind gets all weird. How come I've never seen it?" questioned Roxanne. "He's kidnapped me for years and has always been his eccentric self."
"You HAVE seen his other half. It was right before he quit the Doom Syndicate. Destruction Worker had kidnapped you and HE came to your rescue. Do you remember why he said he did it?"
"Yes. He said it was because I was his hostage only. But I know it was because he had a crush on me and was worried that Destruction Worker would actually hurt me."
"In part, but in his mind you really are his. A possession... just like me."
"What do you mean?"
There was a soft knock on the metal door, followed by Megamind walking in.
Paranoid because of the conversation, she looked carefully at his face. His eyes were their normal vivid green and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
"I was hoping to find you here, Roxanne," said the blue man. "When you didn't answer your phone I figured this was the only place where you couldn't get signal. I want to... apologize for running out on you last night. You just brought up some bad memories."
Next to her, Music Man was tense, his eyes narrowed at the other man.
"It's okay, Wayne was explaining what happened. I understand."
"You don't understand, but, then, who would?" He seemed sad, self-deprecating almost. "Still, the night had been going so damn well until that point. We should do it again soon. Of course, avoiding certain topics."
She stiffened. Megamind, like Metro Man, NEVER swore. What Wayne had been saying suddenly had so much more merit.
"He's pretending to be Megamind and using the watch to hide his eyes," the retired hero stated.
"Well, shit. I almost had her convinced, too." He pouted. "Oh, well. It's been a while hasn't it, Wayne?"
"Not long enough, Itzal."
The blue man shrugged and turned off his disguise generator, revealing ice green eyes and clothes that went against the ex-villain's style. The shirt was a loose, red short-sleeve, the pants, while black were loose-fitting as well, and he had on red chucks instead of boots. Where had he been hiding such a normal outfit? On the rare occasions she had convinced Megamind to wear normal clothes they closely resembled his costume, being mostly black and tight fitting.
"You should really do something about that beard. You look less like the rock star you aren't and more like a fucking hobo. The hair's fine, though."
Just the other day she'd discussed Music Man's appearance with Megamind and to hear his opinion twisted like that made the truth of the situation sink in.
Itzal sauntered over and flipped the larger man's bangs.
"In fact, it's kinda hot," said Itzal.
"What do you want?" Music Man demanded.
The question was bold, but his body language clearly said that he wanted to bolt. Why in the world would he be afraid of anyone? Even if his old nemesis had gone nuts, he was still untouchable.
"Oh, don't be so defensive." The blue man patted Wayne on the cheek. "I'm only interested in Roxanne at the moment."
Instantly, the fear was gone and the retired hero looked like he wanted to punch Itzal. She was thoroughly confused and a tad frightened by their interactions.
"Don't touch her."
"Are you worried I'm going to mark our girlfriend? I've outgrown that."
He poked Music Man in the chest, exactly where the man had been rubbing earlier.
"What are you to talking about?" questioned Roxanne.
Though she didn't want to draw their attentions to her, she had to ask anyway.
An evil grin spread across Itzal's face. "Show her, Wayne."
The larger man seemed to debate with himself for a minute, then sighed and pulled his t-shirt off. He averted his eyes as she stared at the scarring across his right pectoral.
"You see, his invulnerability only works when he perceives a threat. Like when you and Megamind found 'Music Man'." He made air quotes with his fingers. "His skin didn't depress when you threw shit at him, yet, not half an hour before, Megamind was playing with his face." He traced the pale design with his finger, following each curve of the stylized 'M'. "The night I... introduced myself, I snuck into Wayne’s room and used my newly created knock-out spray on him while he was still sleeping. By the time he started to come to I was almost done. When he could move again, he back-handed me hard enough that I ended up on the lawn."
Itzal flopped down on the couch between them, relaxing against the backing. She scooted away so that her leg wasn’t touching the stranger who looked like her boyfriend.
"But that didn't stop me. The next night I went back and poisoned him. Obviously I didn't give him enough to kill him, but enough to prove that I COULD. And while he was incapacitated, I explained to him exactly who he was dealing with. Up until that point he thought we were full of shit. That we were stupidly beating our giant blue head against a fucking wall and weren't intelligent enough to do anything to him. He started to respect Megamind's fair play after that. Though, occasionally, I make similar visits to remind him of his place."
He had a cat-who-ate-the-canary sort of smile as he crossed his arms behind his head.
"You have no right to do things like that! Megamind would never- " she started, jumping up and pointing angrily at him.
"Do something like that?" interrupted the blue man. "Of course he wouldn't. And when Wayne tracked him down a couple days later to confront him about it he cried like a bitch and tried to apologize. Megamind won't do a lot of things he'd like to, so I do them for him. Including taking care of our possessions."
"I don't belong to anyone, least of all you! I am dating Blue. Not some screwed up look-alike!"
Itzal just grinned at her as he stood and circled around her.
"If you'd like, I can prove that you are ours."
Music Man looked ready to intervene at any second, but relaxed the instant the blue man staggered. Itzal's eyes flashed a darker green as he caught his balance.
"Oh, piss. I crossed a line with that one," he said, pressing the heel of his hand to his brow. "But don't worry, Roxanne, you'll be seeing me around; you've given him some wonderful fucking nightmares." He looked over at Wayne. "You'd better grab him this time. These floors are marble."
And with that, his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed as though his strings had been cut. Music Man was there in a flash and caught him before he could hit the floor.
"Okay, what the hell was that all about?" demanded Roxanne.
Admittedly, she rarely swore, but this merited a few colorful phrases.
"Like Itzal said, he crossed a line. Whatever he'd been threatening to do to you had to have upset Megamind enough to have him forced back. They typically black out when they fight over his body like that," her friend said as he lay Megamind on the couch.
"Does this happen often?"
"What, Itzal showing up? No, thankfully. It's been several years since he last came out." Wayne put his shirt back on. "I thought he was finally gone."
"And what about seeing him around? You said Megamind forced him back."
He scratched his neck awkwardly.
"As long as Megamind is having nightmares about the labs or the things Itzal has done we will have to be on guard for him. And when he's in control he will try to act on Megamind's wants, so it does make sense that he's focused on you at the moment."
Surely he didn't mean that...
"He wouldn't!"
Music Man shook his head.
"No, Megamind would never let him. He grew up around the results of forceful men, so neither of them would ever do that."
He walked over to the only phone in his entire hideout and held up a finger to her, before dialing a number.
"Hello. Put me through to the Warden," he said. "Warden Trueman? It's Wayne... Yes, I'm aware he's been charged with Metro Man's murder, but this is more important that that... Yes, he's awake. Roxie asked about the foster home... I didn't think to warn her and obviously you didn't either... Her... Yeah, I don't think putting him in the same building with him is a good idea. In fact you might want to double the guard on him just in case Itzal gets the idea to go after him... I'll watch him... I'll think about it... Have a nice afternoon."
She raised an eyebrow at him as he hung up the phone.
"Normally, I'd drag him back to prison, but they put that Tighten guy in his cell and none of the other cells can hold him for more than a couple hours. Plus Itzal might take the chance to get some revenge on Tighten."
"For attacking Megamind."
"And for trying to hurt you."
Sure, Hal was a jerk and tried to kill her, but she didn't think he deserved whatever Itzal might have in store for him.
"Since we can't put him in prison; I'll just have to keep an eye on him," stated the ex-hero.
"But you're afraid of him."
Music Man looked away.
"To an extent, but I'm not the center of his attention this time. It won't be so bad."
She didn't quite believe him, but she didn't have a better plan.
"Okay... I'm going home. I need some time to think about all this."
"Roxie, he will approach you again and he may try to act like Megamind again. Obviously Itzal cusses, but he's got other tells. He doesn't mispronounce any words except Metro City, he doesn't care about personal space, and he gets agitated easily," warned Wayne.
She thanked him and walked away, mulling over everything. Blue was a really good guy and he had changed so much for her, but his split personality was proving to be a bit much. It might even be a deal breaker.
I wrote this eons ago, before my muse decided to tell me to bugger off and finally decided to brush the dust off of it and post it to the comm. Because of my muse still not working properly, I'm not sure how well my old note on this applies: There will be at least one more chapter to this. In the next chapter you get to find out a little more about what the scientist did to Megz, how Metz knows that Itzal wouldn't force himself on someone, and whether or not Rox dumps Megz. And hopefully there will be a little more action and a bit less talking.